Cast in Stone: A Leo Waterman Mystery (Leo Waterman Mysteries) - Hardcover

Ford, G. M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802732674 ISBN 13: 9780802732675

Publisher: Walker & Co, 1996

Synopsis

Asked to find the reason behind an old friend's son's death, Leo and his Irregulars follow a paper trail that takes them from Seattle to Wisconsin, where they uncover a puzzling and tragic story from the past.

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Reviews

Years and years ago, stunning Marge Sundstrom broke up the gaggle of hangers-on and friends her new husband Heck, commercial fisherman of the Lady Day, had gathered around him. Now it's Marge who needs the solace of friends, with her son Nicky killed in a boating accident, and his grief-stricken father hospitalized after getting hit by a car he didn't bother to avoid. The records list a third casualty--Nicky's bride, Allison Stark, who steamrolled Nicky the same way Marge had steamrolled Heck--but Marge doesn't believe for a minute that Allison's dead, and she wants Leo Waterman, one of the original Lady Day alumni, to hunt her down. And hunt he does, in an odyssey that takes him from his old haunts at Seattle's fisherman's wharf--where he picks up the trail of still another untidy disappearance--to the wilds of Wisconsin, from a bilked realtor to a football player-turned- televangelist, each with a shivery tale to tell about the chameleon last seen in the guise of Allison Stark Sundstrom. Together with his aging Irregulars, who like detecting more than anything but drinking, Leo follows each twist and bump in this fatal femme's life story till the predictable, but highly effective, finale. A stronger villain and tighter plotting lifts this search- and-destroyer over Leo's debut, Who in Hell Is Wanda Fuca? (1995). -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

YA. Written like a classic 1930's hard-boiled detective novel, Cast in Stone starts with a bang and keeps going from there. After 23 years, Marge, the love of detective Leo Waterman's life, needs his help. Her husband, Heck, an ex-friend of Leo's, is dying in a Seattle hospital after a hit-and-run accident. It is with great reluctance that Leo even considers getting involved as Marge rejected him and married his best friend, thus ruining that friendship and his life. Marge also wants Leo to help her uncover the mysterious circumstances of the death of her son and his fiancee in a boating accident. Heck was convinced that the "accident" was no accident and had set out to do his own investigation. Calling in some markers owed from old friends, Leo unravels the case piece by piece. In the course of his investigation, he finds decades-old murders and "suicides," and uncovers a small town's guilty secrets. Ford does an excellent job of tying together all of the various threads of this case. YAs will get a kick out of Leo Waterman and his sidekicks.?Susan B. McFaden, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Confirming the bright promise of Who in Hell Is Wanda Fuca?, Ford proves he's no one-book author with the second case for extremely likable, wisecracking Seattle PI Leo Waterman. A boating mentor from Waterman's youth, Heck Sundstrom, is critically injured in a traffic accident. What was he doing on a seedy downtown block after midnight? The accident follows the death of the Sundstrom's son and his new daughter-in-law, Allison, in a boat explosion. Waterman soon finds loose ends: Allison may not have been what she claimed. For help, Waterman calls on "the Boys," usually drunk old friends who know their way around Seattle's seamier precincts. Carl Craddock, a wheelchair-using surveillance expert with a foul mouth and caustic sense of humor, pitches in. Allison's trail of trouble leads the men across Washington State to Wisconsin and beyond. A helpless old lady, a small-town police chief and the minister of a Seattle megachurch were all involved with the enigmatic woman. But if Allison is alive and murdering, who went down with the Sundstrom boat? Ford keeps the menace growing, while his large cast of colorful characters supplies laughs in some of the best dialogue around.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Readers of Who the Hell Is Wanda Fuca? will be delighted to learn that Ford's second offering is a lot like his first. There are the same bang-on Seattle settings, the same irreverent humor and addictive suspense, and much more, thankfully, of private eye Leo Waterman. This time the wisecracking sleuth investigates the seemingly accidental death of a friend's son, peeling back layer upon layer of deceit to arrive at the shocking--and decidedly kinky--truth. The author's name may sound a bit fishy, but there is no denying his talent for spinning an entertaining story. That, at least, is absolutely authentic. Dennis Dodge

Who in the Hell Is Wanda Fuca?, Ford's first novel, which featured Seattle private investigator Leo Waterman, attracted readers with its unique title. His second novel relies upon series protagonist Leo and his unconventional habit of employing several homeless alcoholics to do his legwork. Leo investigates a suspicious boat explosion that kills his wealthy client's son and the son's new wife. But a million dollars and the wife's remains are missing. The tough, honest, and compassionate Leo uses his considerable resources to get to the truth. A solid, worthy sequel.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Walker & Co
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802732674
• ISBN 13: 9780802732675
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 284